Amazon Just Took a Huge Shot at College Bookstores

Amazon is matriculating.

The e-commerce giant has inked deals with three major universities to run websites selling all sorts of college students’ delectables, including textbooks, college-themed apparel and ramen noodles, the Wall Street Journal reports. Students at Purdue University, the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of California Davis can use the new co-branded website to place orders.

The campus initiative gives unlimited next-day on-campus delivery to Amazon Student Prime members (quicker than the two-day delivery for regular Amazon Prime customers). Also as a part of the deal, Amazon will set up new package distribution centers at each partner school.

Amazon is aiming at a coveted market that spends $10.3 billion every year at college bookstores. Barnes & Noble is currently a major supplier for college bookstores, selling $1.75 billion in its college division in its 2014 fiscal year. Follett Corporation is also a major player in the space.

“College campuses are an opportunity for us,” said Ripley MacDonald, director of Amazon student programs. “We hope students like it and continue being Amazon customers.”

[WSJ]